Marine debris, i.e., pollution in the world’s oceans, rivers, and lakes, endangers the organisms living in them and is one of the greatest challenges facing our global society. An estimated 150 million tons of plastic are already in our oceans, and more than 10 million tons are added every year. Up to 80 percent of marine litter comes from land, and about three-quarters of it is plastic. If pollution continues at the current rate, the oceans will be completely littered in a few years. According to recent studies by the United Nations, there will likely be more plastic than fish in our oceans by 2050. Huge carpets of plastic waste are already forming in the world’s oceans, the largest of which, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Pacific, is already twice the size of Texas (1.6 million square kilometres or 620,000 square miles).
Birds, fish, and other creatures eat plastic pieces and die from blocked stomachs or internal injuries. It has been scientifically documented that more than 40 percent of whales, about 36 percent of seabirds, and almost all fish and sea turtle species eat garbage. Other marine animals get caught or strangled in old fishing nets, ropes, or plastic sheets.


Plastic in the sea does not simply disappear, but has a lifespan of up to 500 years. The longer plastic floats in the oceans, the more it is broken down into smaller and smaller fragments (microplastics) due to friction, salt water, and UV radiation. Microplastics are also part of cosmetics, synthetic clothing fibers, or abrasion from car tires, for example, and are washed into the oceans via rivers. Microplastics can hardly be removed from nature with today’s means. It also binds microorganisms and pollutants. Marine animals mistake plastic particles for food and die as a result.